Almost every day we see something in the papers about the latest exciting developments in the space race. Photographs are regularly flashed to the earth from thousands and even millions of miles away. They are printed in our newspapers and shown on our television screens as a visible proof of man’s newest achievements. The photographs neatly sum up the results of these massive efforts to ‘conquer space’ and at the same time they expose the absurdity of the undertaking. All we can see is an indistinguishable blob which is supposed to represent a planet seen from several thousand miles away. We are going to end up with a little moon-dust and a few stones which will be put behind glass in some museum. This is hardly value for money when you think that our own earth can provide countless sights which are infinitely more exciting and spectacular.
The space race is not simply the objective search for knowledge it is often made out to be. It is just an extension of the race for power on earth. Only the wealthiest nations can compete and they do so in the name of pure scientific research. But in reality, all they are interested in is power and prestige. They want to impress us, their spectators, with a magnificent show of strength. Man has played the power game ever since he appeared on earth. Now he is playing it as it has never been played before. The space race is just another aspect of the age-old argument that ‘might is right’.
We are often told that technological know-how, acquired in attempting to get us into orbit, will be utilized to make life better on earth. But what has the space race done to relieve the suffering of the earth’s starving millions? In what way has it raised the standard of living of any one of us? As far as the layman is concerned, the practical results of all this expenditure of money and effort are negligible. Thanks to space research, we can now see television pictures transmitted live half-way across the globe and the housewife can use non-stick frying-pans in the kitchen. The whole thing becomes utterly absurd when you think that no matter what problems man overcomes, it is unlikely that he will ever be able to travel even to the nearest star.
譯文
我們幾乎每天都在報(bào)章上讀到太空競爭方面最新、最激動(dòng)人心的進(jìn)展。不斷有照片從幾千英里、甚至幾百萬英里外發(fā)回地球。我們作為人類最新成就的明證登在報(bào)紙上，出現(xiàn)在電視屏幕上。這些照片充分反映了人類付出巨大的努力去“征服太空”所取得的結(jié)果，同時(shí)也揭示了這種做法的荒謬性。我們所看到的只是一個(gè)模糊不清的小圓塊，據(jù)說那便是一個(gè)從幾千英里以外看到的星球。我們最后的收獲將是一點(diǎn)月塵和幾塊石頭，把它們放在某個(gè)博物館的玻璃后面展覽。為這些東西花錢實(shí)在不值得，因?yàn)槟阒溃覀冏约旱牡厍蚓涂梢蕴峁o數(shù)比這更壯觀、更激動(dòng)人心的景觀。
太空競爭的目的不單單是客觀地探求知識(shí)，雖然它常常自命如此。它其實(shí)是在地球上進(jìn)行的權(quán)利競爭的延伸。只有那些最富裕的國家才能參與競爭，并且他們總是打著純科學(xué)研究的旗號(hào)。實(shí)際上，他們感興趣的惟有權(quán)利和威望。他們希望他們對(duì)自己的力量所做的壯觀的展示會(huì)給我們，他們的觀眾，留下深刻的印象。人類自從在地球上出現(xiàn)以后就開始玩權(quán)利游戲�，F(xiàn)在他們更是把這種游戲玩得史無前例。太空競爭只是“強(qiáng)權(quán)即公里”這一古老論點(diǎn)的另一方面。
我們被告知，我們?cè)谂M(jìn)入空間軌道的時(shí)候所獲得的技術(shù)竅門將有助于我們?cè)诘厍蛏仙畹酶�。但是太空競爭又做了些什么來救�?jì)地球上千百萬在饑餓中掙扎的人們呢？它在哪一方面提高了我們中間任何一個(gè)人的生活水平呢？照我們這些門外漢看，我們耗費(fèi)那么多金錢和努力所取得的成就是微乎其微的。借助于太空研究，我們現(xiàn)在得以看到越過全球現(xiàn)場直播的電視畫面，廚房里的家庭主婦也用上了不粘鍋。但是不管人類征服了多少困難，他也不可能去最近的星球上旅行。想想這個(gè)，你就會(huì)覺得整個(gè)這件事情荒謬絕倫了。
人類最大的敵人是貧窮、饑餓、疾病和戰(zhàn)爭。如果世界上的強(qiáng)國把他們用于太空競爭的金錢和努力的一半用來解決這些問題，這個(gè)世界不知要變得比現(xiàn)在好多少。人類在自己的歷史上第一次擁有了和人類不幸作戰(zhàn)的強(qiáng)大技術(shù)力量，可是卻把它們浪費(fèi)在毫無意義的追求上。
詞匯
Absurdity n. 荒謬, 悖理, 荒謬的言行
例句：The fallacy has been exposed in its naked absurdity這謬論的荒誕性已被充分揭露。.
反義詞：rationality
Compete vi. 競爭, 對(duì)抗
例句：You cannot compete你無法和那些研究生競爭。 with those postgraduates.
同義詞：rival
Effort n. 努力, 成就
例句：His efforts他的努力得到了補(bǔ)償。 were remunerated.
同義詞：attempt endeavor fling try undertaking
Expenditure n. 開支, 費(fèi)用, 用光, 消費(fèi)額
例句：The monthly expenditure of our family is four hundred dollars altogether. 我們一家的開銷每月共計(jì)四百元。
反義詞：revenue
Flash n. 閃光, 閃現(xiàn), 一瞬間vi. 閃光, 閃現(xiàn), 反射vt. 使閃光, 反射
例句：His eyes flashed他的雙眼怒火中燒。 fire.
詞組：a flash in the pan 曇花一現(xiàn)的人[事物] as quick as a flash 快如閃電般地flash across 一閃而過, 掠過flash out 勃然發(fā)怒
辨析：flash; gleam; glitter; sparkle
flash 指“突然、短暫一閃而又消失的亮光”；gleam 指“瞬息的弱光”或“微弱的閃光”；glitter 指“閃光”、“燦爛的光輝”；sparkle指“發(fā)出短暫間歇的閃光”即“火花”。
同義詞：blaze cable flame flare radio telegraph wire
Indistinguishable a. 不能辨別的, 不能區(qū)別的
例句：The material is indistinguishable這衣料與真絲難以區(qū)別，但便宜得多。 from real silk, but much cheaper.
Layman n. 俗人, 門外漢, 凡人
例句：My uncle posed as a connoisseur in paintings while actually he was only a layman我叔叔冒充為繪畫鑒賞家，實(shí)際上他只是個(gè)門外漢。.
反義詞：clergyman priest
Massive a. 大而重的, 寬大的, 宏偉的
例句：The massive blasts shook windows throughout the city, jolting sleeping residents awake. 大量的沖擊波震動(dòng)了整個(gè)城市的窗戶，驚醒了睡夢(mèng)中的居民。
詞組：massive mountains塊狀叢山
同義詞：big clumsy coarse heavy large ponderous solid strong sturdy thick
Negligible a. 可以忽略的, 不足取的, 無用的
例句：In buying a suit, a difference of ten cents in prices is negligible. 買一套衣服價(jià)錢只差一角錢是無所謂的。
詞組：a negligible quantity
Objective n. 目的, 目標(biāo), 宗旨, 賓格, 實(shí)物a. 客觀的, 如實(shí)的, 無偏見的, 賓格的
例句：A college education is my objective. 我的目標(biāo)是接受大學(xué)教育。
反義詞：subjective
Photograph n. 相片, 照片, 逼真的描繪vt. 照相, 攝影vi. 照相, 攝影
例句：I have taken many photographs我拍了許多照片。.
詞組：cabinet photograph 六英寸的照片candid photograph 快拍攝影, 快相
同義詞：film snap
Practical a. 實(shí)際的, 現(xiàn)實(shí)的, 實(shí)用性的
例句：He set forward several practical proposals. 他提出了幾項(xiàng)切實(shí)可行的建議。
詞組：for (all) practical purposes 實(shí)際上
反義詞：theoretical
Relieve vt. 減輕, 救濟(jì), 解除, 使免除, 換……的班, 使得到調(diào)劑, 使不單調(diào), 襯托, 使顯著vi. 救濟(jì), 當(dāng)替補(bǔ)投手, 呈鮮明突出
例句：The route was designed to relieve traffic congestion. 這條路是為緩解交通擁擠而開辟的。
詞組：relieve sb. of 解除某人的(負(fù)擔(dān)等); 減輕某人的(痛苦等); 偷去(某物) 解除某人(職務(wù)) relieve sb. from anxiety消除某人的憂慮
反義詞：intensify
Spectacular a. 公開展示的, 驚人的, 壯觀的n. 奇觀, 驚人之舉, 展覽物adj. 特殊的,與眾不同的
例句：Kennedy questioned the program as "too spectacular".肯尼迪擔(dān)心這個(gè)計(jì)劃太引人注目。
詞組：in a spectacular fashion驚人地, 壯觀地
同義詞：dramatic sensational
Technological a. 技術(shù)的
例句：With increasing technological sophistication, this factor continues to grow. 隨著技術(shù)水平的不斷發(fā)展，這個(gè)因素還將繼續(xù)增長。
